District plans to eliminate furloughs, add school week

2nd grader Isabel Lopez raises her hand during a discussion in a group reading lesson taught by teacher Tami Mouradian at Sycamore Elementary in this file photo. KEVIN LARA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Orange Unified School District will likely eliminate all employee furloughs next school year, meaning students will receive an extra week of instruction.

The 2013-14 school year will be the first since 2009-10 with a full 180-day school calendar.

District officials unveiled the proposed calendar at a recent school board meeting. The passage of the statewide Proposition 30 and an improved state budget forecast will allow Orange Unified to erase furloughs for all employees, said Ed Kissee, the district's assistant superintendent of human resources.

The school board is expected to approve the 2013-14, 180-day school calendar in coming weeks.

For the current 2012-13 school year, students in the 30,000-student district are learning in a 175-day calendar, with employees being furloughed for eight days.

Like most districts across California, cash-strapped Orange Unified had been struggling to keep a balanced budget thanks to several consecutive years of state budget cuts. For four years, Orange officials have turned to furlough days as a main component of cutting costs. This year, each furlough day saved the district $650,000. Orange Unified is currently among eight districts in Orange County with 175 instruction days. No district has fewer.

In December, district officials announced that the passage of Prop. 30, which raises the income tax on wealthier individuals and the state sales tax, would mean another $12.3 million more in state funding this school year, increasing the district's operating budget from $204.1 million to $216.4 million.

The proposed 2013-14 calendar lists the first day of school as Aug. 21. The school year ends June 12, 2014. Students will still receive three weeks off for Winter Break, beginning Dec. 16. But Spring Break, starting March 31, will shrink back to one week, instead of two.

Kissee said officials could consider furlough days in the future if the state budget forecast again worsens.

Rosie Escalante, a parent at Cambridge Elementary, said she's thrilled that her two daughters will again receive another week of lessons next school year.

"We are expecting our children to learn more today than ever before," she said. "The last thing we should be doing is eliminating school days."

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